298 
pliny's natueal histobt. 
[Book XXVIII. 
CHAP. VARIOUS OTHER REMEDIES. 
To sit by a pregnant woman, or by a person to whom any 
remedy is being administered, with the fingers of one hand 
inserted between those of the other, acts as a magic spell ; a 
discovery that was made, it is said, when Alcmena^^ was 
delivered of Hercules. If the fingers are thus joined, clasping 
one or both knees, or if the ham of one leg is first put upon 
the knee of the other, and then changed about, the omen is of 
still worse signification. Hence it is, that in councils held by 
generals and persons in authority, our ancestors forbade these 
postures, as being an impediment to all business. They have 
given a similar prohibition also with reference to sacrifices and 
the offering of public vows ; but as to the usage of uncovering 
the head in presence of the magistrates^^, that has been enjoined, 
Yarro says, not as a mark of respect, but with a view to 
health, the head being strengthened^^ by the practice of keeping 
it uncovered. 
When anything has got into the eye, it is a good plan to 
close the other ; and when water has got into the right ear, 
the person should hop about on the left foot, with the head 
reclining upon the right shoulder, the reverse being done 
when the same has happened to the left ear. If the secretion 
of the phlegm produces coughing, the best way of stopping it 
is for another person to blow in the party's face. When the 
uvula is relaxed, another person should take the patient with 
his teeth by the crown, and lift him from the ground ; while 
for pains in the neck, the hams should be rubbed, and for 
pains in the hams the neck. If a person is seized in bed with 
cramp in the sinews of the legs or thighs, he should set his 
feet upon the ground : so, too, if he has cramp on the left 
side, he should take hold of the great toe of the left foot with 
the right hand, and if on the right side, the great toe of the 
right foot with the left hand. For cold shiverings or for 
excessive bleeding at the nostrils, the extremities of the body 
should be well rubbed with sheep's wool. To arrest inconti- 
nence of urine, the extremities of the generative organs should 
10 See Ovid, Met. ix. 273, et seq. 
11 Much more probably, because they were considered to be significant 
of anything but seriousness and attention. 
12 Exemplified in the case of the Egyptians, Herodotus says, 
13 The remedy would seem to be worse than the evil. 
